Magazine-type ball-point pens



Dec. 23, 1958 F'IGJ.

H. RADZINSKY MAGAZINE-TYPE BALL-POINT PENS Filed Aug. 21, 1957MAGAZINE-TYPE BALL-POINT PENS Harry Radzinsky, New York, N. Y.

Application August 21, 1957, Serial No. 679,338

4 Claims. (Cl. 120-42.12)

This invention relates to fountain pens, and more particularly to thoseof the ball-point type, and has for its primary object the provision ofmeans by which the ink capacity of pens of this type will be verymaterially increased.

One of the deficiencies of this type of pen as known at the presenttime, is the tendency of the ink supply to become exhausted eitherprematurely or when least expected, and in the event of sucha happening,the inability of the user of the pen to secure a filled ink cartridge.These cartridges are made in various shapes and sizes and while someefforts have been made to standardize them, they nevertheless vary tosuch an extent in sizes and shapes that the user of a particular make ofpen often finds it diificult to secure a cartridge to fit his particularpen. Efiorts have been made to increase the ink capacity of these pensby utilizing cartridges of larger diameter, but when that has occurredand the ink capac ity has thus been materially increased, the ball pointoften wore away or became inoperative before the contents of these largecartridges were depleted. In other instances, cartridges have beendivided into two parts, with one short cartridge telescopically fittinginto the end of the other so that the rear cartridge could besubstituted for the empty front one. This did not materially increasethe ink capacity of the pen since the two end-to-end short cartridgeshad merely the ink capacity of. one long one.

It has also been proposed in the past to make pens with transparentbarrels so that the ink would be visible through the barrel, with theintention of permitting the pen owner to determine when the ink supplywas getting low and thus prepare for the securement of a new cartridge.Unfortunately, the ink is of a pasty consistency and exhibits a tendencyto adhere to or coat the interior wall surfaces of the cartridge orbarrel and as a result the true amount of ink contained in such atransparent barrel could never be accurately ascertained by lookingthrough the barrel.

In the manufacture of pens of this type there has also been a tendencyto reduce the ink capacity by utilizing space within the barrel forcontaining means for the advance and retraction of the ball-point of thecartridge. These mechanisms are troublesome; they get out of orderreadily and some of them, and particularly those in which the point isretracted by pressure on the clip, exhibit a tendency to snap toretracted position when pressure is accidentally applied to the clipwhile turning the pen over in the hand during writing.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a magazine type ofpen which will contain a number of ink cartridges to be successivelyused when that which is in writing position becomes exhausted of itsink. It is an object to provide these cartridges in complete, fulllength form, utilizing the interior of the pen barrel for containingextra cartridges arranged around the central cartridge located inoperative or writing position. It is an object of the invention toprovide a pen in which re- United grates Patent 9 i Patented Dec. 23,1958 ice serve cartridges are so carried that a filledl cartridge may bereadily and instantly inserted in place of an ink-depleted one. It is anobject of the invention to provide a pen of simple, lastingconstruction; which will contain a very substantial ink supply in aplurality of like cartridges and which will be free of troublesome,pointretracting and advancing mechanism, and thus possess a long anduseful writing life.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I havedevised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularlypointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of theinvention is disclosed,

. Fig. 1 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a pen constructedaccording to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rear poi" tion of thebarrel of the pen, the view being taken at right angles to that of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the pen on a reduced scale;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the pen adjacent to the rearend of the same and with the ink cartridges omitted;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig.2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the seat for the ink cartridges, and

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view through a modified form ofcartridge seat.

In the embodiment of the invention as shown inthe drawing, the barrel ofthe pen is composed to two parts, namely, a rear portion 2 and a frontportion 1, these parts being detachably coupled together in known.manner by the screw threads 3. The barrel may be com posed of metal orplastic or of both of these materials. The forward end of the front part1 of the barrel is conical or tapered as shown at 4 and is provided withthe central aperture 5 through which the ball point 6 of the central oroperative ink cartridge 7 protrudes in writing position. This cartridge,as well as the reserve cartridges 8 and 9 stored within the barrel, arepreferably all similar in size and shape and are of known form, thuseach consisting of a lengthy, tubular, inkholding body provided at oneend with the ball-point 6. A closure cap of known form is fitted overthe front end of the barrel asis common in the fountain pen art.

Provided within the rear part 2 of the barrel is a cartridge seat 10which, in one embodiment of the invention, consists of a metallic,springy member of stepped formation, provided at its forward end withthe central step 11 which acts as a stop or abutment for the central oroperative cartridge 7. That is to say, when the central cartridge 7 isin writing position as shown in Fig. 1, its rear end firmly bearsagainst the face of the step 11, causing the forward or ball-point end 6of the cartridge to be protruded or extended out of the aperture 5 inwriting position.

Located rearwardly of the step 11 are the two steps indicatedrespectively at 14 and 15, and as will be noted in Fig. 1, these stepsrespectively act as stops or rear abutments for the back ends of thestored or reserve cartridges 8 and 9. Through this arrangement, thereserve or stored cartridges 8 and 9, which are just as long as theoperative cartridge 7, are permitted to extend rearwardly within therear part 2 ofthe barrel to a greater extent that the central oroperative cartridge. Thus, the three cartridges shown are all containedin the barrel in parallel and side-by-side relationship with one of thecartridges, or the central one shown at 7, held in an advanced orwriting position, wherein its point 6 protrudes out of the front of thebarrel.

The seat for the three cartridges need not be of the form shown, and infact it might be made to accommodate more or less than the threecartridges shown. It is held in the rear end of the barrel in anysuitable manner, and can be forcibly inserted therein, with therearwardly-extending tongues 12 and 13 with which it is provided,serving to position and hold it properly. Said spring arms addresilience to the seat and aid in maintaining spring pressure on therear end of the central cartridge 7. This is facilitated by reason ofthe fact that the rear end of the rear part 2 of the barrel isimperforate and integrally formed with the remainder of the part 2, andthe action of the spring fingers against the conical interior of therear end produces a desired springy action. and described as being ofspringy metal, it may be constructed of other material and shapedotherwise than as shown. For example, in Fig. 7 is shown a cartridgeseat in the form of a solid frustro-conical block 17 of wood or plasticand provided with the two recesses 18 and 19 into which the rear ends oftwo reserve ink cartridges may be inserted. The surface 20 shown betweenthe two recesses 18 and 19, constitutes the stop or abutment for therear end of the central cartridge or that which is in writing position,similar to the step shown at 11.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a pen is provided in which aplurality of ink cartridges are contained so that when the centralcartridge, or that in operative or writing position, has its ink supplydepleted, it can be removed and discarded and one of the reserve orstored cartridges substituted. This is done by removing the frontportion 1 of the barrel together with the ink-depleted cartridge. One ofthe reserve cartridges 8 or 9 is then taken out of the barrel and itspointed end 6 is inserted through aperture 5. Now the front portion 1 ofthe barrel, carrying the cartridge so inserted in it, is replaced on thepart 2 and this will cause step 11 to bear against the rear end of thecartridge, maintaining it in writing position. Since at least threesimilar, fulllength cartridges can be stored in the barrel and without amaterial increase in the diameter of the barrel, it will be apparentthat an ink supply of greatly increased magnitude is provided. Whilethis arrangement is suitable for pens of various sizes and lengths, itwill be found particularly adaptable for the short length pens of thetype often carried in womens handbags and which, because of their shortlength, provide but a small amount of ink. By the arrangement shown, theink capacity will be tripled or increased still more if a greater numberWhile the cartridge seat 10 is shown What I claim is:

cartridges positioned in the barrel, one of said cartridges beinglocated centrally of the other cartridges and being also locatedforwardly of'the others, said central cartridge having a ball-point endextending out of the forward end of the barrel in writing position, theremaining cartridges being completely contained within and housed by thebarrel and constituting reserve cartridges to be substituted for thecentral cartridge when the ink supply in the latter is exhausted, andseating means within the rear portion of the barrel for holding thecentral cartridge positioned forwardly of the others, said seating meansincluding rests located rearwardly of the rear end of the centralcartridge for the reception of the rear portions of said reservecartridges, said seating means consisting of a stepped member formedwith rearwardlyextending spring tongues, the rear end of the barrelbeing integrally closed and providing an inner conical surface againstwhich the spring tongues frictionally engage to maintain the seatingmeans against the rear end of the central cartridge.

2. In a ball-point pen, a central ball-point pen cartridge positionedwithin the same, a barrel in which said cartridge is located, thecartridge having its ball-point extending out of the forward end of thebarrel, a plurality of reserve cartridges located within the barrel andpositioned around the central cartridge, the barrel having anintegrally-closed rear end presenting an interior conical surface withinsaid end, and a seat at the rear of the barrel against which the rearends of the several cartridges are rested, said seat having springelements engaging against the interior conical surface in the rear ofthe barrel.

3. In a ballpoint pen as provided for in claim 2, wherein the springelements consist of rearWardly-extending tongues on the seat, saidtongues frictionally engaging against the inner side walls of saidinterior conical surface. I

4. In a ball-point pen, a barrel having a closed integrally-formed rearend provided with an interior conical wall surface, a seat for aplurality of ink cartridges fitted in the barrel at the rear end of thesame, said seat consisting of a bifurcated springy member havingportions frictionally operative against the conical wall of the barrel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,246,254 Johnston June 17, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 808,029 Germany July 9,1951 60,802/93;5,473 France July 21, 1954

